Dion DiMucci

Dion Francis DiMucci (18 July 1939-) was an American doo-wop, rock, and R&B singer during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Born in The Bronx, New York City to an Italian family in 1939, he grew up admiring Hank Williams and country music, and, in 1958, he formed a third of "The Belmonts", a doo-wop and rock n' roll group. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with The Belmonts, or with The Del Satins, with some of his notable songs including "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby", "A Teenager in Love", "Kansas City", and "Lovers Who Wander". His popularity faded in the mid-1960s, and he fell into heroin addiction; in 1968, he turned to Christianity and recorded the song "Abraham, Martin, and John" in 1968, a tribute to three major American figures who were assassinated for leading social change. From 1969 to 1986, he matured in his musical content, and he became a born-again Christian in December 1979 and released contemporary Christian music, even taking part in one of Billy Graham's evangelical crusades in the 1980s. In 1987, he returned to playing his old hits and even reverted to Catholicism from evangelical Protestantism, and he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1989, causing strife between him and his former Belmonts bandmates. His later music was praised by critics. DiMucci identified as a liberal with his love but a conservative in his thinking, and, in 2009, he supported Republican Party politician Allen West during his congressional bid. He introduced West at a Boca Raton Republican Club meeting in September 2009.